Massachusetts Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto of Stem Cell Bill.

The Massachusetts Senate and House have overridden Gov. Mitt Romney's veto of an embryonic stem cell bill that authorizes the creation of tiny human beings who would then be killed to extract cells for research purposes. Romney vetoed the bill May 27 after the legislature rejected amendments he proposed.

Romney's amendments, sent to the legislature May 12, one week after the bill was first sent to the governor's desk, would have banned all cloning, defined life as beginning at conception, limited compensation to women who donate eggs for cloning, and tightened restrictions on egg donations, according to the Associated Press (AP). These amendments were defeated in both houses May 19.

"How utterly sad and what a moral outrage it is that a legislative body would deny the right to life of the very innocent ones it seeks to create," said Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Peg Whitbread. "I believe we have reached rock bottom of the culture of death's slippery slope."

The bill authorizes "somatic cell nuclear transfer," which creates a human embryo through cloning. These embryos would have to be destroyed before they reach 14 days old so researchers could extract stem cells for use in research.

"Unfortunately, the new law denies scientific reality by defining the beginning of human life as implantation, not conception," said Daniel Avila, associate director of Policy & Research for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference. "This means open hunting season on embryos produced in the laboratory."

"The lethal connection between cloning for research purposes and harvesting of embryonic stem cells can neither be denied nor wished away," according to a March statement from the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts.

The legislation also establishes a Biomedical Research Advisory Council to oversee embryonic stem cell research and requires the Department of Public Health to register research institutes, according to the Telegram & Gazette.